Labour's Lord Desai has accused his fellow socialist Ken Livingstone of being a tax dodger. The claim was made in a House of Lords speech in which Desai, the wild-haired former London School of Economics lecturer, said he thought it a good idea to raise taxes on the self-employed.

‘We know that self-employment is a tax dodge,’ he said, ‘and it has been since my friend Ken Livingstone became a company and started paying himself — a good socialist such as Ken Livingstone discovered 15 years ago that it paid to dodge taxes.

‘We have to stop pretending that the self-employed are the backbone of society and guarantee growth. They are no such things. They are just tax dodgers. Tax dodgers ought to be treated like tax dodgers.’

Former London mayor Livingstone, who has called tax avoiders ‘rich b*******’ who should ‘not be allowed to vote’, was accused of hypocrisy in 2012 for channelling his earnings through Silveta Ltd, paying corporation tax at 20 or 21 per cent, rather than income tax at up to 50 per cent.

Livingstone could not be reached for comment, but it is hard to believe that a statesman of such well-known benevolence and sobriety would do anything untoward.

Fury at palace basement plans

My revelation about plans to dig an ‘iceberg’ mega-basement in the grounds of Kensington Palace have enraged the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s neighbours.

Furious Kensington residents say Historic Royal Palaces plans for a 50 metre-long basement underneath the Grade I-listed Orangery are ‘shoddy’ and that there is ‘no justification for a double basement’.

Usually, two-storey basements are banned in Kensington & Chelsea, but forelock-tugging council planners have indicated they are prepared to make an ‘exception’ at Kensington Palace. Donald Cameron, a retired communications CEO, says the double standards are ‘bogus’.

‘The planning department seems to have been bedazzled by courtiers when giving pre-application advice,’ he writes in an objection letter.

A decision is expected at the end of April.

You can quote me on that

‘People who mistake me for Ed Sheeran, I do question their dedication as a fan. I can’t really see a huge resemblance, apart from the hair.’

- Rupert Grint, Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

‘I’m always amazed at how many ways I can incorporate quinoa into my meals.’

- Lily Collins, actress daughter of musician Phil Collins.

‘I believe there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women. I can’t bear women not being good sisters to one another.’